Sunday, October 2, 2011

Hello everyone! I've got an awesome post today as my first day back to regular posting!

I got my hot little hands on the OPI Muppets Collection yesterday (just the glitters!) With some insider info and help from Kayla Shevonne's pro license, we both got them very early!
This is the holiday collection so these should be in stores everywhere by the end of the month.

I spent all last night swatching them. Swatching glitter is not easy or fast. Haha!

Originally I was really disappointed with the swatches I was seeing because no one was bothering to attempt full coverage - and I don't really love glitter if it isn't opaque.
I knew I would regret it if i didn't buy these polishes, so I gave them a chance, and I'm so happy I did!

This is a very long and wordy post! Be warned!

Before I show you the nail swatches, here is one coat of each polish on a wheel.

(click to enlarge)

Rainbow Connection, Gettin' Miss Piggy With It!, Divine Swine, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Gone Gonzo!, Excuse Moi!
As you can see, the glitter is not overly dense in any of the polishes and only one has a tinted base.
I knew from experience with polishes like Mad As A Hatter that, at first, you think they won't get opaque. But with patience, you can do it!

I will say before I start this review that all of these polishes dry really quickly which really helps when doing multiple coats. I was shocked at how well they dry!

If you guys are like me, you are dying to see if these go full coverage. I'm happy to report that they do.

Time for swatches! Are you excited?

Rainbow Connection. Four coats.
Clear base packed with multiples sizes and multiple colors of hex glitter.
Now, this is the only one I wouldn't wear alone. It doesn't quite cover, and I think it looks better over another color.

This is very similar to every other "party glitter" but I feel as if this one has too much yellow/gold glitter. The overall hue seems too yellow to me. It seemed at times that there was yellow in the polish base even but there isn't, it's clear.

I did find that this polish spread nicely, it was not hard to get a good even coat of glitter.

I'm sure you're wondering how this compares to Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, so I did a quick comparison on a wheel.

Happy Birthday, Rainbow Connection - 1 coat

Happy Birthday, Rainbow Connection, 2 coats

They are a bit different. It's hard to see in the photos but Happy Birthday is much more colorful than Rainbow Connection. The glitters are brighter and there is a good mix of all the colors whereas like I said, Rainbow Connection comes off a bit too yellow.
Happy Birthday is also more dense and glitter-packed.

Another thing I like better about Happy Birthday is the sizes of the glitter. Happy Birthday's largest pieces are smaller than those in Rainbow Connection and I think it makes the overall look of the glitter nicer. And Happy Birthday has more large glitter than Rainbow Connection.

Overall, I do prefer the Lippmann, but Rainbow Connection is quite similar and could satisfy anyone looking for a crazy glitter. (However, Milani Gems is more similar to Happy Birthday and it is cheaper!)

These four polishes are basically the exact same glitter composition but in different colors.
They are mostly small hex glitter in one color, with larger silver hex glitter thrown in - the exception is that Gettin' Miss Piggy With It! also has large red hex glitter. I'm not sure why that one is slightly different.

These swatches are all 4-5 coats for full opacity. I know 5 coats seems like a lot, but the bases of these polishes really do dry very quickly and it is easy to do the 5 coats without dragging around the glitter or making your nail too thick.

The base is thinner than most glitter polishes which explains why you need 5 coats, but the faster drying time makes up for that.

(please ignore my stains!)

The above picture shows one coat versus 2 coats. As you can see, it builds fairly well.

I am confident that these polishes will act like the Alice In Wonderland glitters and the Burlesque glitters - the more often you use, them, the thicker they get, and the less coats you need.
Upon first using those glitters I needed 4 coats, but after 3-4 uses, I only need 2 coats. I'm sure these will do the same and require less coats with time.

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It!
As I said, this is small red glitter, large red glitter, and large silver glitter, in a clear base.
There are many other red glitters as I'm sure you all know, but the silver glitter makes this a bit different than the others.

Originally I didn't want this one because I am not a big red fan, but I'm happy I got it!
Can you picture the awesome Christmas manicure you could rock with this and the green glitter?
I think I will be wearing them on Christmas day for sure!

I thought the added silver glitter would make these polishes look funny, but now that I have seen it in person on the nail, I really like the look.

Divine Swine
Pinky-purple/fuchsia glitter, the same color as the glitter in Show It And Glow It! from last year.

I am a bit sick of seeing this shade of glitter but I still like the polish.

This post is making me dizzy and I'm only halfway done! Haha!
Are you enjoying it so far? Read on...

Fresh Frog of Bel Air.
Grassy green glitter, I didn't think I had another glitter this color but I do - Color Club Object of Envy. Same color. But smaller glitter and no silver hexes.

I really enjoy the color of this one. Like I said earlier, imagine the Christmas manis! Haha.

This one is a gorgeous bright blue. The color is the same as the majority of the glitter in Simmer and Shimmer from last year.
This one is so shiny it almost looks like a foil. Super love it.

Big win.

Last but certainly not least... The totally different polish which happens to be my favorite from the bunch!

Excuse Moi!
This one is just 2 coats.
I've never seen a polish like this before!

This one is a sheer reddish-pink jelly base, with silver microglitter and small multicolored hex glitter.
It's such an interesting combination and I really like it. I wish they made a blue or a teal like this one too!

Gorgeous, right? I think this one is a must have!

In conclusion - I love this collection. Well, this half of it, anyway!

All the polishes were really fast-drying and even though most of them required 4-5 coats for opacity, they remained thin enough to wear and were easy to work with.
My favorites are Excuse Moi! and Gone Gonzo!

The only one I wouldn't recommend is Rainbow Connection because I feel that you can get a better rainbow glitter from Deborah Lippmann or Milani.

Sheesh!! That took forever! I really hope you guys enjoyed this post!
Let me know what your favorites are :)

i passed on all the glitters..dont you feel like they can be franken easily?! just buy large silver hex & add a clear of glitter.. i did buy the mini set which had the foils & excouse Moi! ..i LOVE LOVE that one!

 These polishes are awesome. I need them in my life now! The only disappointing one is rainbow connection. The promo pics made me think it would have crazy large glitter in irregular shapes... That's why we need bloggers to show us what it looks like in reality on a fingernail! Thanks for swatching!!!

Thanks so much for swatching these! I bet it was a huge pain to remove glitter over and over and over. We appreciate it though! This has convinced me that I don't need Rainbow Connection as much as I thought I did, considering I have Happy Birthday. I do love Excuse Moi! though, I will definitely be picking it up :) Thanks again! :)

BEAUTIFUL! I'm so happy someone did more than one coat of the glitters, I'd dying for Gone Gonzo! Btw...idk if its just my messed up computer, but to me it looks like you have Excuse Moi! listed twice, one for the purpley glitter and another for the red-pink jelly...I think you meant Divine Swine for the glitter? Sorry, I don't mean to be critical, I just thought you might want to look into it =]!

@Lindsey - Thank you so much for pointing that out! Of course I make a silly mistake in such a long post, hahaha. Don't worry about pointing out mistakes - I need someone to do that for me sometimes!! hehe

Thank you SO SO much for doing this post! I will be honest, though.. Your swatches of Rainbow Connection broke my heart. Not because they were bad, but because I was expecting it to be a rainbow version of Spark De Triomphe or Crown Me Already! ..And it's totally not. RC was the ONE polish (out of any collection) I was most excited about.. and now I don't even want it. But I'm so glad you did the swatches because now I won't waste my money on it!

I DID find a new appreciation for some of the other glitters, though.. so I'll probably be picking them up instead! Thanks! ♥